The Kingdom of Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country located in Southeast Asia, almost equidistant between India and China. Know for centuries by outsiders as "Siam" the Kingdom has long been a migratory, cultural and religious crossroads for many Southeast Asian nations.

Lying between 7 degrees and 21 degrees latitude, Thailand has a total area almost the size of France, and is said to resemble an elephant's head with its trunk forming the southern peninsula. Bangkok is sited at its geographic center, approximately at the elephant's mouth. The country is bordered by Malaysia to the south, Burma to the west, Laos across the Mekong river to the northeast and Cambodia to the east.
The north is marked by low hills and contains the country's tallest peak, Doi Intanon, standing 2,590 meters ( 8,500 ft. ) tall. A range of hills divides Thailand from Burma and forms the western boundary of the broad alluvial central plains, the country's principal growing rice area. To the east, the plains rise to the Khorat Plateau, which covers much of the northeast.
The spine of the southern peninsula is the same range of hills that separate Thailand from Burma, sloping down to the Andaman Sea on the west and the Gulf of Thailand on the east. Thailand has a total of 2,600 km (1,600 miles) of coastline.
Bangkok is situated at 14 degrees north latitude. It is a city divided into halves by a river, the Chao Phraya, which separates central Bangkok and Thonburi. The city covers a total area of 1,565 sq. km. (605 sq.miles) of delta land, of which there is no natural area is more than 2 meters (7ft) above any other.

Climate

There are three seasons Thailand : hot, rainy and cool. But to the tourist winging in from anywhere north or south of the 30th parallel, Thailand has only one temperature - hot. The temperature drops only a few degrees during the night and is accompanied 24 hours by humidity above 70 percent. Only air conditioned only make Bangkok and other major towns tolerable during hot season. The countryside is somewhat cooler, but surprisingly, the northern regions can be hotter in March and April than in Bangkok.
Adding together the yearly daytime highs and the nighttime lows for major world cities, the World Meteorological Organization has declared Bangkok to be the world hottest city. When the monsoon rains fall, the country swelters.

The Economy

Nearly 70 percent of the population are farmers, who still alluvial land so rich that Thailand is the world leader in the export of tapioca, rice, rubber and canned pineapple. The country is also a major exporter of tuna, shrimp, sugar, maize and tin. Increasingly, Thailand is turning to manufacturing, especially in clothing, machinery and electronics.

Government

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy headed by His Majesty, King Bhumibol. The royalty's power has been reduced considerably since the period before the 1932 revolution. However, the present King can, by the force of his moral authority, influence important decisions. Although he no longer rules as did the absolute monarchs of previous centuries, he is still regarded as one of the three pillars of the society - monarchy, religion, and the nation. This concept is represented by the five-banded national flags : the outer red bands symbolizing the nation; the inner white bands the purity of the Buddhist religion ; and the thick blue band at the center, the monarchy.
Along with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and other members of the royal family, the King has long been active in promoting the interests of Thais in the lower economic strata, earning the royal family genuine respect from their people.
The structure of the government is defined by the constitution and its enabling ordinances. A new constitution, designed to place power in the hand of people, was passed in 1997. Despite its frequent revisions, it has remained true to the spirit of the original.
The Thai government consists of three branches : legislative, executive and judiciary, each in theory acting independently of the others in a system of checks and balances.